DEVENPORT
REUNION
Across
the Fence
By
Arvord Abernethy
We
usually think of July and August as being good months for family
reunions, but if you should ask John Devenport, he would say that the
best reunion he ever had was in October.
About
two months ago he was reunited with his daughter, Patsy Ruth Branham,
for the first time since her mother carried her away as a 20 month old
baby in 1942, over 38 years ago. A daughter, Laphane, now Mrs. Jess
Brumbalow, and a son, Jim, remained with John.
Patsy
Ruth was kept by her mother until she was six years old and was then
placed in a child care home in
Ohio
. Her mother told her she would be back soon to get her, but she never
came back. The lady who ran the house wanted to adopt her has a
daughter, but
Ohio
laws did not permit an old maid to adopt a child, but she kept her on,
even sending her through high school. Patsy Ruth loved her as a mother,
but always called her “Auntie”.
John
has put out much effort through the years to locate her, but it was all
in vain.
The
“Auntie” passed away some time back and left some property in
New Mexico
to Patsy Ruth. The lawyer handled the settlement turned over to her an
old letter from her mother’s father, Emmett Walker, which was mailed
from
Richland Springs
,
Texas
, and in it was John’s name.
Patsy
Ruth and her husband had been to
New Mexico
to see about the property there and came back this way to see if they
could locate some relatives. They stopped in to get gas and asked the
attendant if he ever heard of an Emmett Walker. He replied that he
certainly had and that he was the custodian at the courthouse, even
though he was 93 years old. They spent two hours with him before coming
onto
Hamilton
. Patsy Ruth wondered what kind of a man she would find her father to
be. She learned from her grandfather that John was a highly respected
person.
They
tried to call John the next morning, but found no one at home. She then
learned that Mrs. Jess Brumbalow was also a daughter of John’s, so she
contacted Ben Brumbalow and found that the Devenports and the Jess
Brumbalows had gone to
Guyman
,
Oklahoma
, to visit Jim. When Ben called, the men were out helping move some
cattle, but he got in touch with them about
11 o’clock
and told them about Patsy Ruth being here.
There
was so much excitement and rejoicing they didn’t take time to eat the
dinner that had been prepared and Jim didn’t take time to tell his
boss, who was off with the cattle, that he was going, so they were soon
on their way to
Hamilton
.
They
arrived in
Hamilton
about ten that night and found them at the Brumbalows. For the first
time in over 38 years, John, Laphane, Jim and Patsy Ruth were together
again.
It
was an occasion when tears of joy flowed freely, but words would not. It
was some time before they gained enough composure to talk, and then talk
they did-until about four the next morning. There was a dad that Patsy
Ruth had never remembering seeing. There was a sister and brother that
she didn’t know she had, so there was a lot of getting acquainted they
had to do.
They
got out all the old pictures and snapshots and relived much of the life
that Patsy Ruth had missed. Then she had to relive to them the life she
had spent as a person hardly knowing who she was or if and where any of
her kins-people lived.
Patsy
Ruth and her husband Raymond, are planning a return trip to
Hamilton
and to bring their four children with them.
